England’s Cipriani charged with drink-driving

England and Sale Sharks fly-half Danny Cipriani has been charged with drink-driving according to London’s Metropolitan Police.

The Sale Sharks flyhalf just missed out on Rugby World Cup selection under former coach Stuart Lancaster and was understood to be on standby whilst England were still in the world cup.

Cipriani was not injured in the collision between his black Mercedes C63 and a Toyota in the Chelsea area in West London shortly after 5:00am on June the 1st.

The incident took in the early morning on the day after Cipriani played for England against the Barbarians at Twickenham.

Twenty-eight-year-old Cipriani was breath tested and then taken to a west London police station before being released on bail at the time.

Police have now confirmed that Cipriani was charged and will now appear at West London Magistrates’ Court on December 10.

Cipriani is widely regarded as one of the most talented English backs of his generation, yet he failed to be selected for England’s squad at the recent World Cup — where the team became the first host nation to fail to get out of the group phase — amid a training ground row with attacking skills coach Mike Catt.

He had pressed his case for inclusion by coming off the bench to inspire an England rally in a 25-20 defeat by France in Paris in a warm-up match in August but it was not enough to convince England coach Stuart Lancaster, who stepped down from his post on Wednesday, to include him in the 31-man World Cup squad.

Cipriani began his career at Wasps before a brief spell in Melbourne was followed by a return to England with north-west side Sale in 2012.

He has often found himself generating as many headlines in the news as the sports pages thanks to a high-profile lifestyle off the field that included a relationship with the actress and model Kelly Brook.